A strike was looming as the South African Municipal Workers’ Union (Samwu) and the SA Local Government Association (Salga) reached a deadlock in wage negotiations, the union said on Tuesday.
Salga, however, said conciliatory talks were still under way with the union.
“At this moment, we are preparing for conciliation,” Salga spokesman for negotiations Tahir Sema said.
“We are still willing and available to negotiate and are fully committed to breaking the deadlock. However, we have canvassed with municipalities around the country and simply cannot afford the double digit demands currently on the table.
“This would require a reduction in service delivery and we simply cannot do this,” said Sema.
After three rounds of fruitless negotiations over a requested wage increase, the current collective agreement between the two was under threat of collapsing.
Samwu was seeking an 11 percent wage increase, down from the 16 percent originally sought. Salga has, in turn, revised their numbers from an original 4.5 percent increase to 5.9 percent.
The conciliatory talks form part of the Local Government Bargaining Council (SALGBC), which are set to take place from Wednesday.
With Samwu already having significantly revised their initial demands, it is unclear whether the latest negotiations would prove sufficient to bring a satisfactory end to the deadlock, thus sparking fears of a strike.
In a statement, Samwu national media officer Papikie Mohale said Samwu would not be backing down from their demands.
“We firmly believe that our members’ demands are reasonable and achievable,” said Mohale.
The demands also included an across-the-board housing allowance of R1 200 for Samwu members.
“We remain resolute, unshaken and unapologetic,” said Mohale.
“We will not dignify Salga with an apology for demanding living and decent wages for our members. If Salga wants to conclude these negotiations on the streets, they should know that the ground is fertile, our members are ready and we shall meet Salga on the street to defend and champion our members’ interests.”
The dual demands of increased wages and increased housing allowance funds for its members were the requirements to be met in order to prevent strike action being taken by Samwu.
“It is the responsibility of Salga to ensure workers have their dignity,” said Mohale.
“It is embarrassing for a working adult to still be staying with their parents because of the slave wages they receive. The cellphone allowance alone of Salga’s acting CEO is larger than the average salary of a municipal worker.”
He said that if no common ground was reached in the final conciliatory meeting between Samwu and Salga on Thursday, a certificate of non-resolution would be signed by both sides and a nation-wide strike undertaken by the union. – ANA